Pre-oiling BB with a drill motor question?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: brea california
Pre-oiling BB with a drill motor question?
I've got the drill hooked up down the distributor hole onto the oil pump. It looks like a ton of oil is coming out through where the distributor drops through and I've got nothing coming out the pushrods. Is this right? Does the distributor block an oil return hole and cause the pressure to go up to the valve train? It's a stock 435hp engine...It worked before but I changed the cam back to stock and put in new pistons...Thanks for any insight.
Instructor
Joined: May 2006
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From: Kennesaw GA
You are right, there is a passage that is affected by the distributor. I can't recall the details, but if you use an old dist that has the gear removed and modified to fit into a drill, then you will see the normal oiling of the engine.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Waterloo ontario Canada
Gruntypants is right. You need the distributor body to block the oil gallery that feeds the lifters. You are just short circuiting the pump.
If you modify and use a old distributor you can get oil up through the push rods. I do this every year and it takes 5 or 10 minutes before all rocker arms are showing an oil flow and I also rotate the motor occassionaly while oiling.
Be careful you do not overheat the drill, take breaks if the drill starts to overheat.
If you modify and use a old distributor you can get oil up through the push rods. I do this every year and it takes 5 or 10 minutes before all rocker arms are showing an oil flow and I also rotate the motor occassionaly while oiling.
Be careful you do not overheat the drill, take breaks if the drill starts to overheat.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Waterloo ontario Canada
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11,872
Likes: 12
From: Waterloo ontario Canada
Don't cut corners and just forget the preoiling. Take the extra time and modify a spare distibutor
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Le Mans Master
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From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
NO! ... if this is a fresh build ... you REALLY need to either find a junk dist to make a tool ... or buy one that mimics a dist. Any junk chevy V8 dist will do! Even one that was cracked in a wreck. All you need is from just above the collar that sets on intake down to gear ... and grind the teeth off the gear. Don't risk a dry motor.
Le Mans Master
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From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
Tech Contributor
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From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
I have a junkyard distributor ($25) that I gutted and cut the cam off the mainshaft (hit the cam with a hammer and the brazing will break off). This makes the shaft fit right into a 1/2" drill chuck. Drop the distributor body into the block (SB & BB are the same), chuck the shaft up into a drill, and slide the shaft right down the distributor housing. The pre-oiling works great - don't skip it.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: brea california
Can I just buy this tool? I'll do the oiling
but sure don't want to buy a distributor and gut it. If it is that important someone should sell this...anyone know? It's not like there aren't millions of Chevys that have this problem. I bought the stock oiling tool...opps they forgot to tell me it wouldn't work!
Race Director
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From: Waterloo ontario Canada
Yes it takes alot of time to pre oil. The drill will likely get hot and you have to give it a break of rish damaging the drill. Do it in stages until you get oil out of all 16 pushrods. I just watch that all valves are being coated with oil but remember to turn the motor over a few times so all bearings get oiled.
Remember rod bearings only get oil for 180 degrees of crank rotation so if you stop in a position where a rod gets no oil you have to rotate the motor over past this point. Most mains are only grooved in the top and that is the oiling part for the rods.
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From: Corsicana, Tx
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If you have an air drilll..it sure saves the burning up of your elctric drill! Otherwisw you need a BIG electric drill.
I have a modified dist that I use....but the tools to do it are cheap these days. Heck...Autozone will probably loan you one for free.
Definitely want to prelube it before you start it...just makes the first few seconds of your new motors life a LOT easier.
JIM
I have a modified dist that I use....but the tools to do it are cheap these days. Heck...Autozone will probably loan you one for free.
Definitely want to prelube it before you start it...just makes the first few seconds of your new motors life a LOT easier.
JIM
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From: FL
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: New Cumberland PA
Before I fired up my engine in the spring I wanted to prelube it. I figured I would call a couple of bone yards to get a junk distributor. Some said they didn't have any distributors (hard to believe) and the ones that had them wanted like $40-$50. I found out it was cheaper to buy the tool; cost with shipping was under $20.
Some drills will be better than others. A 1/2", low speed drill works fine. It will spin about 500 rpms which is equivalent to about 1000 rpm engine speed (an engine running at 1000 rpm will make the oil pump spin at 500 rpm).
After spending $1000's on engine parts there is no reason not to spend $20 and 10 minutes of time to possibly prevent enginge damage.
Some drills will be better than others. A 1/2", low speed drill works fine. It will spin about 500 rpms which is equivalent to about 1000 rpm engine speed (an engine running at 1000 rpm will make the oil pump spin at 500 rpm).
After spending $1000's on engine parts there is no reason not to spend $20 and 10 minutes of time to possibly prevent enginge damage.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
-edit- if you get a chance to see Joe Gibbs racing "wasp-waisted" lifter ... has a sort of hourglass profile ... much lighter ... and always aligned with oil galley that's perpendicular to & passes thru lifter bores.
Last edited by jackson; Dec 22, 2006 at 04:19 PM.